During the Atlantic 10 media day, I spoke with Massachusetts coach Derek Kellogg about his team’s three-point dependence. Since he arrived at UMass, Kellogg’s squads were content to jack a high percentages of threes, consistently posting a three-point attempts percentage in the mid-30s. After asking Kellogg whether this trend would continue for the sixth year, he stressed the team would ease their diet of long-range indulgence: “We need to be even more selective from three this year because of the level of play [in the conference].” Against VCU, the Minutemen attempted eight threes, but whiffed on all eight (as he explained in the post game presser, “Once we were 0 for 6, I told my guys to stop shooting 3s. I told them, ‘Why settle? Get to the free throw line'”), the first time since March 2006 that a UMass team has failed to hit a three. As he maintained during the preseason, though, UMass is now more offensively efficient because of their refusal to settle — the squad’s three-point attempts percentage is 25.6 percent, one of the nation’s lowest rates, and just 20 percent of their A10 points come from beyond the arc (compared with the percentage of points, 60 percent, within the three-point line). In the win versus the Rams, UMass both got to the line (20 of 27) and didn’t force their offense (48 percent), scoring .94 PPP against a team that prides itself on wreaking defensive havoc.

Important outcomes

Siena 67, Manhattan 63: If the Jaspers had made little more than half of 42 free throws they attempted versus Siena, Steve Masiello’s team would have secured the victory. The win is significant for two reasons: it muddies the top tier of the MAAC, as Manhattan is now third in conference play with two home games remaining; this is the biggest win for Jimmy Patsos at Siena, and since only ten other DI teams have less experience than this season’s squad, Siena should quickly ascend the MAAC rankings.
Florida Gulf Coast 75, Mercer 61: Is FGCU ready to make another run? Similar to last year’s squad, the Eagles lost to Mercer in their first regular season match-up before winning the next game (and in the case of the 2013 team, also winning the third game, which was the conference tournament title). Defense is analogous to success for new coach Joe Dooley, and the Eagles strove to limit Mercer to one offensive possession at a time, corralling an impressive 34 defensive rebounds.

Iona 80, Rider 77: With under fifteen minutes remaining in the second half, Iona, thanks to a made three from Sean Armand, led Rider by thirteen points. A scant fourteen minutes later, that lead was cut to three, and the Gaels, rather than let an opportunity to put a game between itself and Manhattan slip away, was forced to desperately hold on to the win. Iona’s usual suspects — Sean Armand and A.J. English — had twenty point games, but the real star was Rider’s Jimmie Taylor, a guard who scored 13 straight points in the final minutes.

StarredTravis Bader (Oakland)
The 6-foot-5 wing threw off the mental handcuffs Wright State had placed on him during Oakland’s recent loss, converting four of six threes and attempting twelve free throws in a win over UIC.
Jimmie Taylor (Rider)
A budding long-range star, Taylor scored 19 points overall in the loss, and was instrumental in Rider’s comeback.
Jamail Jones (Florida Gulf Coast)
Jones isn’t one to hang out on the interior all game and grab defensive rebounds — the wing has grabbed more than five defensive boards just a handful of occasions in 2014 — but his play on the glass (ten defensive rebounds) helped stymie Mercer’s offense.

StruggledBriante Weber (VCU)
Weber, whose spent this season transitioning to VCU’s full-time, true point guard, hit a large speed bump, committed six turnovers.

Steven Spieth (Brown)
Referees ruled Spieth had foul a Maodo Lo by impeding his path to a loose rebound, and Lo, an 84 percent free throw shooter, made both attempts to break to tie and give Columbia a home win.

UIC’s offense
Oakland has always been known more for its offensive, and not defensive, schemes, but the former Summit League member limited UIC to just over one point per possession and only twelve two-point field goal makes.

Notables
-It’s possible to make both the struggled and notables list in the same night! When Briante Weber recorded three steals, he became the first Ram to surpass 100 steals in a single season. He is swiping five steals per 40 minutes, and since VCU still has four regular season games remaining (not including the A10 tourney and a possible postseason appearance), Weber should boost this record substantially.